BTS is not just reuniting for an album but also for a massive world tour in music history. After a long wait, BTS prepares for their grand return as a full seven-member group in 2026, and it is already being called a billion-dollar comeback.
Exclusive reports from Billboard and Bloomberg reveal BTS is preparing for a comeback on a scale never seen before. It is expected to be the most profitable and the biggest tour in K-pop history. This will be their first new release since the Proof anthology in 2022. Fans have been waiting and saving up to show their full support the moment BTS returns.
BTS Reunited in June 2025
The group has been on a mandatory hiatus since 2022 as its members, one by one, completed their required military service in South Korea. The remaining five BTS members completed military service in June, and SUGA was the last one to discharge on June 21. The good news fans were waiting for finally arrived on July 1, 2025. All seven members—RM, Jin, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—reunited in a Weverse livestream and officially confirmed their plans for a full-group comeback in 2026.
The excitement was dialed up even further in October when leader RM told fans to “look forward to late March.” Fans speculated that he was talking about their new album release, which will be followed by a massive world tour. After years of solo projects and waiting, the stage is being set for Bangtan Sonyeondan’s grand return.
2026 BTS World Tour Expected Revenue & Number of Shoes
So, what can fans expect from this tour? In short: it’s going to be huge. According to a Billboard report, the BTS World tour 2026 is projected to be one of the biggest musical events in recent history.
The scale of the tour and its projected financial impact make it clear that BTS’s popularity has not faded during their hiatus. If anything, it has only grown stronger.
The tour is expected to include approximately 65 shows around the world, and an estimated total attendance of 3.9 million fans. Each concert is projected to draw around 60,000 attendees, as most venues will be large-capacity stadiums.
From ticket sales alone, the BTS tour is expected to bring in around $664 million. On the other hand, merchandise sales on their Weverse store could reach $353 million thanks to the group’s massive fanbase. Fans are expected to spend an average of $50 on merch per concert.
To put this in perspective, BTS’s last major tour, Love Yourself: Speak Yourself (2018–2019), featured 62 shows. They sold out stadiums in major cities like London, Paris, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The upcoming 2026 tour is expected to be even larger in scale, so it is going to increase HYBE’s revenue dramatically..
For context, Coldplay’s 2024 tour — one of the most successful in recent years — generated around $401 million. BTS’s return is set to more than double that.
Why Is It Called A Billion-Dollar Comeback
Fans might be wondering, how can a single tour generate over a billion dollars? Billboard’s breakdown shows it’s not just about ticket sales, but also revenue from album sales and streams.
As stated above, the tour is the main engine, expected to bring in $664 million from ticket sales alone. This is based on current trends in ticket pricing and the massive scale of the planned stadium shows.
Then there’s the new music itself. Their last album, Proof, sold over 4 million units globally in 2022. A new album in 2026 is going to surpass this number.
On the music side, the group’s new album is projected to bring in $80 million, and streaming is expected to add another $33 million. Combined, the numbers push the total consumer spending related to BTS’s 2026 comeback to more than $1.05 billion. While not all of that will go directly to HYBE or the members, it shows the enormous economic power that BTS holds.
BTS World Tour Timeline
As hinted by RM and reported by Bloomberg, the new BTS album will arrive in late March. This means that the world tour will likely begin in early or mid-May. Some sources reveal that a definitive announcement related to the world tour will be made in December.
Till now, there have been a lot of conflicting reports online about the timeline and the city list. BTS will likely visit many regions they have not toured before, such as India and many more cities in South and Latin America. As per the reports, they will hold 30 out of 65 shows in North America.
While the figures are mind-blowing, some analyses suggest that Billboard’s estimate might even be on the conservative side. BTS has never actually done a full-fledged global stadium tour; their planned Map of the Soul tour was entirely sold out before it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Furthermore, the solo tours and record-breaking solo releases from members like Jungkook (“Seven”) and Jimin (“Who”) have only increased the hunger for a group concert.
